Angels or Demons?
by Mars Yggdrasil
Summary: SG1 is possesed by four Ancients and used in their sceme to bring their malevolent brother into power. Season six. Reviews are very much appreciated!
1. Sarcophagi

AN: This is an Angel crossover, but only involves an obscure little idea that requires no knowledge of the actual show. So read on!

**Angels or Demons?**

Colonel Jack O'Neill, USAF sighed and moved his flashlight along the walls of the tunnel. Ruins, ruins, ruins. You'd think traveling across the galaxy would be exciting and adventurous, which it was, but a lot of the time it was just ruins, ruins, ruins.

"Hey, Sam!" the young Kelownan Jonas Quinn stuck his brown haired head out of a room just ahead of them, startling the Colonel into nearly dropping his P-90.

"Jesus!" _Could the little guy be patient for once?_

"Coming!" replied the blonde Major Carter, Jack's second in command, laughing quietly at Jack's reaction. He scowled at her back as Samantha exited the corridor. After a few seconds there was a long, low whistle.

"Sir, you may want to see this!"

"This better be interesting," muttered Jack, which it probably wasn't.

The room SG-1 was standing in was lined with colourful and detailed hieroglyphs and pictures. Apart from that the only other features were four bejeweled sarcophagi standing in a row in the center of the room. Teal'c followed Colonel, and the large brown Jaffa raised an eyebrow at the sight.

"To whom do these belong, Jonas Quinn?" Teal'c queried in his deep voice.

"Wellll..." mumbled Jonas, the resident cultural expert, scanning the walls for any clue, "These," he indicated a row of hieroglyphics on the back wall, "say that Osiris, Thoth, Bastet, and Horus rest here, and there should be a fifth sarcophagus belonging to Isis. Hm."

"Hm what?" asked O'Neill.

"Well, you told me you found Isis dead, Osiris is under Anubis's command, and if the other three were still being used they would be on ships, or at least guarded by a large contingency of Jaffa. And these don't look like regular sarcophagi anyway."

"So?" _What'd ya go and get us all worked up for?_

"Well, it could be kings, or priests or something I guess. The interesting thing is that they're buried together."

"Or they really are a kind of older model sarcophagi and just got dumped here." Major Carter kicked a black box attached to the back of one of the sarcophagi, "Generator," she told them, "Which means they' could be ours for the taking!" Sam was aregular science geek, and her face lit up at the prospect of dismantling a sarcophagus.

"All right," agreed Colonel O'Neill as if talking to a group of children, "but just one for now, and we can come back and get the rest later."

"'Kay," agreed Sam happily, "just gotta turn off the generator first."

"What, you mean it's on?"

There was a downwards hum as the generator shut down, and then four audible _clunks_ reverberated around the room. There wasn't even time for someone to ask "What was that?" before gas and dust began to pour from the sarcophagi and cloud the room. SG-1 ran down the corridor and back up out into the open air, coughing and choking.

"Brilliant!" breathed Jack sarcastically, "Friggin' brilliant!"

"Sorry, sir," panted Carter, "but I couldn't have known!"

"Yeah, yeah," muttered the Colonel, "let's head back to the Gate. I ain't going back in there any time soon."

Later that day SG-1 was given a clean bill of health and sent on their way. The guys all headed over to Jack's to watch a movie, and Sam, in a bad mood because she had no sarcophagus to dismantle, retreated into her lab. Still not feeling the best after the gassing incident, she was wary about going home. But by ten o'clock Sam was thinking _Maybe all I need is some rest, _crawling into her quarters and falling into blissful sleep.


	2. Strange Incidents

Briefing was at nine thirty the next morning. SG-1 was heading back to yesterday's planet with the hazerdous material suits to collect the sarcophagi. When General Hammond, commander of the SGC, walked into the briefing room he found Jonas and Teal'c sitting warily, and as far away from Colonel O'Neill as possible. The Colonel himself was continually mumbling under his breath and scribbling on a sheet of paper. Hammond raised an eyebrow at this strange sight.

"Don't look at me," said Jonas, "he's been like that all night, ranting about how 'illogical' the movie was."

"Actually I was going to ask where Major Carter is," said Hammond in his Texan drawl, "When was the last time she was late for a briefing?"

"When we first gave her a naquadaa generator," mumbled O'Neill. Hammond just shook his bald head and moved over to the intercom.

"Major Carter to the briefing room. Repeat, Major Carter to the briefing room." They waited five minutes with no sign of the Major. Hammond turned back to the intercom.

"This is Hammond to security. Can you tell me where Major Carter is?"

"She's on her way, General. I think you woke her up." replied the airman on the other end. Jack was distracted from his paper._Woke her up?_ he mouthed disbelievingly. Hammond shrugged.

"Thank you." he said to whoever was on the other end of the phone. At that moment a bleary Major Carter hurried into the briefing room, dragging a brush through her tousled hair.

"Sorry, " she smiled, "must've slept in or something."

"At least we know you're sleeping," Jack informed her. Sam replied by leaning over to see what he was writing.

"How wormholes-" she started.

"Can we please get on with the briefing?" interrupted Hammond. Sam sighed in agreement and plopped into the chair next to Jack.

"Thank you. Now, you'll be leaving at 11:00 hours. We're sending SG-3 and a doctor with you this time, just in case..."

Teal'c strode ahead of the group in the late morning sunlight. It was a fine day on P4X-878, warmer than the last time they'd been here. But to the Jaffa all did not seem right. For example, his friends were all oddly relaxed. Jonas Quinn was rambling on wistfully about his homeworld, O'Neill was admiring the cloud shapes, and Major Carter was unusually quiet. Should they not be on alert after the events of the previous day? Plus, everything he could hear sounded muzzy and echoey. Must've not gotten enough kel'nor'eem last night, he had had trouble concentrating. Those airmen next door were rather loud...

"Teal'c!" all chattering seemed to cease as Colonel O'Neill called out the Jaffa's name, "What's the matter buddy? You seem kinda' outta' it."

"I was unable to kel'nor'eem properly last night," the big man explained.

"Meh, I didn't sleep much last night either. Not tired. You don't think that was insomniac gas do ya'?" Jack laughed as they reached the ruins. "Harris," he ordered a young lieutenant, "You stay out here and watch the rover. It's too big to go inside. We'll be back within fifteen minutes." The rest of the group donned their red suit hoods and strode into the passageway.

Major Carter took out her little tricorder - like device and began pressing buttons, checking the area before they whent any further.

"Gas has cleared," she informed them, "but there also seems to bee an alien life form awful close by." Jack and SG-3 immediately went to alert mode and held up their weapons. Sam inspected the scanner blearily.

"Sorry sir, my mistake. It's just Teal'c's sybiot," she patted Jack on the shoulder apologetically. The Colonel shook his head in disbelief and kept going.

Once in the sarcophagus room the humans were faced with a predicament.

"Stupid narrow passageways," muttered O'Niell, "now we gotta' carry these things," he gave a dramatic sigh, "Jonas, Teal'c you take the far one, Clarke, Thompson, the one after that, Gregory you're with me, and Makepeace help Carter." Everyone moved to their respective positions and got a good hold on the sarcophagi.

"Okayyy," breathed Jonas, " lift on the count of three. One, two, THREE," he and Teal'c lifted, "Hey, these are lighter than I thought."

"If that is your attempt at humor Jonas Quinn, it does not appear to be remedying the situation," Teal'c grunted.

"No, seriously," said Jonas, "this is easier than I expected." He frowned, "Teal'c, you okay?" The other, stronger, alien was struggling with the effort of holding up the large stone box.

"Let us simply proceed quickly," he told Jonas.

Jonas just shrugged, "Okay." They all proceeded down the corridor, stopping half way to catch their breath. At this pont Jonas dropped his box in exasperation, "Seriously! Did I get the light end or something?" Colonel O'Neill glared at him.

"Would you stop trying to make us all feel bad?" he growled sarcastically. Jonas just shook is head. This was really odd, "Fine." he sighed. But as soon as they got back, he was going to have a word with a doctor.

Dr. Janet Fraiser, the SGC's petit, brown haired chief medic was scribbling notes on her worn clipboard.

_Paperwork_, thought Jonas,_ all that paperwork she has to fill out every time we simply stick our noses in here to say hi._

"Well Mr. Quinn," she told him, "as far as I can tell you're perfectly fine. No bacteria, virus, nanites or any other kind of alien organism to be spoken of. Hormone levels a little off, but there are any number of explanations for that, and none of them particularly bad."

"No offense, Dr. Fraiser, but I know what I did was unnatural," Jonas sighed. How could he prove his point? "You remember the first week I was here?" he asked, "I broke my nose and two fingers sparring with Teal'c. I'm not the most physically fit person."

"Perhaps you're a really tolerant one," suggested Janet.

"Tolerant!"

"Physical exertion doesn't bother you," Janet explained.

"Fine," Jonas muttered in defeat.

"Look," said Dr. Fraiser, trying to console her friend, "If anything else happens, try and bring me a little more proof and I'll take a look at it. I promise, okay?"

"Fine," Jonas said again, beginning to walk out of the infirmary, "I'm gonna' go find Jack, see if he wants to get lunch or something."

"Ha!" Sam looked up from her computer and toast.

"Ha what, sir?" she asked Colonel O'Neill. Her CO waved a piece of paper at the whiteboard at the back of Sam's lab.

"That equation!" Jack almost shouted, "I knew something was wrong with it! It's been bugging me ever since we got back!" Major Carter set down her snack and rested her chin on her hand. Now this, she had to see.

"Look," said Jack, "this right here," he pointed to a set of polynomials in the middle of the board, "makes no sense whatsoever," (like it ever did to him?) "because if it were true there's no way you could keep a stable wormhole for as long as we can."

"Oh really," said Carter.

"Really!" smiled Jack, no catching the sarcasm in her voice, "Look, for the equation to work it would have to look something like this." The Colonel began moving about the whiteboard replacing numbers and variables. If Sam hadn't had that equation memorized she would have shot him.

"There," said Jack, standing back and capping the marker triumphantly, "done."

Major Carter stared in disbelief at the changed equation. It seemed to make so much more _sense_ now.

"Weird, eh?" said Jack, "Never thought I had it in me."

"Okay," she breathed, "either you have a hidden physics degree, or the impossible has happened and hell should be freezing over any second now. Sir."

Sitting in his quarters, Teal'c's eyes flew open. Since he didn't dream during kel'nor'eem, what he'd just experienced definitely wasn't one. But he'd just _seen_ them, Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter, standing in the woman's lab talking about a difficult equation. The large jaffa stood and shook his head. Was it a memory then? Was his symbiot trying to tell him something? Was - god, he wished those airmen next door would stop being so loud!

Teal'c stormed down the corridor to throw open the door and give those two a good jaffa piece of mind. As the door hit the wall with a loud metal on concrete _clang_, one of the airmen jerked awake, and the other looked up from her paperwork in silent surprise. Yet none was more shocked than Teal'c, who knew these two could never have been loud enough to hear down the hall. The jaffa shook his head and muttered,"I apologize." He decided the best course of action would be to go look for Jonas. He had a feeling the younger man wanted lunch.

TBC


	3. Not an Elephant

Later that day Jack heard a knock on the lockeroom door as he was preparing to go home.

"O'Neill, may I speak to you?"

"Yeah, T, come on in," Jack finished pulling on his sweater as Teal'c opened the door, "What can I do for you?" he asked bending down to put on his sneakers.

"Have you noticed anything odd around the base as of late?" Teal'c asked.

"Like what, in particular?"

"Noises. Ones that are too loud or should not be there?"

"Naw, not really. Why do you ask?" Teal'c proceeded to tell the Colonel about his experience with the two airmen.

"Probably nothing," Jack told him, "fluke with the ventilation. Make Siler take a look at it, or ask for different quarters."

"But I have had the same quarters for almost six years, and there has never been any previous difficulties."

"Then go with the first option," Jack shrugged as he left the room.

That night the Colonel couldn't seem to sleep. He'd already worked out six different reasons for Teal'c's story and how to fix them, but still his mind wasn't satisfied. His body was tired, but he couldn't sit still or lie down, his mind wanted to DO something. Jack couldn't even read, which according to Carter got him snoring faster than her idea of an interesting conversation. By twelve o'clock am he rolled over for what seemed the millionth time and picked up his cellphone. The other end rang a few times before a sleepy voice asked, "Hello?"

"Hey Carter," Jack smiled at the sound of her voice.

"Colonel? What the hell? It's midnight. Sir, is something wrong?"

"Not really," said Jack, "just couldn't sleep."

"Then why the hell are you calling me?" graoned Sam. The Colonel ignored this question.

"You want to play twenty questions? Bet I can stump you this time."

"Are you even _tired_?" groaned Sam.

"No."

"Then read a book or something"

"I already tried-" Sam didn't even wait for his excuse before hanging up. Jack glared at the phone for a few seconds before dialing a new number. There were a few rings and a click.

"Hey Jonas... "

"Jack, I'd love to chat, really, but I'm not having a good ni-" there was a snap and some swearing from Jonas' end, "I just keep breaking things!" the Kelownan whined, "Maybe I should just go to bed." As the signal cut out Jack heard a sound more like crunching than a phone returning to the hook.

The next morning Jack O'Neill found himself sitting in the commisary, alone for SG-1's morning ritual known as breakfast.

_Where is everyone?_ he wondered. _Jonas and Teal'c are always so prompt, and Carter's at the base by like, six in the morning, even if SG-1 doesn't have a mission_. It was time for search and rescue.

Jonas as it turned out, was sulking in his office.

"I've decided not to touch anything," the young man said, "'cause if one more thing breaks I'm gonna'..." he slammed his fist into the desk, which unexpectedly buckled under the force of the blow. Jack's eyebrows became one with his hairline.

"Jeeze, not even Teal'c The Elephant could manage that."

"Exactly!" cried Jonas. "It's like I've got ... bad karma or something. But I've done nothing to deserve it. Have I?"

"Better not," shrugged Jack, "you seen Carter this morning?"

"Um, I think she called in sick. Stomach flu or something. Yet seeing as it's a member of SG-1, I'm surprised they haven't called a state of emergency."

O'Neill shook his head, "What a weird day. Sam's voluntarily staying home, you have...bad karma, and Teal'c's..."

"Not an elephant," a deep voice came from the doorway. Jack cringed.

"You been there the whole time, T?"

"Indeed not, O'Neill," Teal'c replied, "I have only just arrived."

"Then how did you..."

Unbeknownst to the two other men, Jonas had edged towards the phone, gingerly picking up the handset and dialing the infirmary.

"Hello, Janet?" he spoke, "yeah, I think I got your proof."

They'd been sitting in the infirmary for over three hours. Sam had been brought in from home, and was now asleep on one of the cots. Jack, Jonas and Teal'c where awake, but, needless to say, bored out of their skulls. A clicking of heels announced the approach of Dr. Fraiser. The small brunette was scrutinizing her clipboard as if, for once, she didn't know what to make of it.

"All right," Janet sighed, "I could only get the gist of what's going on here, so no questions. It appears your brainwave patterns and genetic structure are being altered somehow. A virus most likely, but I'm not sure . Probably contracted from the dust in those sarcophagi. The thing is, the affects are slightly different for each of you, and Major Carter doesn't even have it, even though you all breathed in the same gas."

"So what _does_ Sam have?" asked Jack. Dr. Fraiser bit her lip.

"Ummm..."

"Just stomach flu? She immune?"

"Major Carter's pregnant."

"Oh," said Jack. He didn't quite know what to make of this information. 'Carter' and 'mom' were two words he'd never seen going together. At that moment he noticed the looks the other two were giving him. Jonas was trying not to smile, and Teal'c had this incredulous raised eyebrow thing going on.

"What?" he barked.

"Well," Jonas was stifling a laugh. "it's just if Sam's pregnant, everyone thinks your most likely to be the, um ... yeah."

Jack's frown deepened, "The what?" he growled, "say it!"

"Father."

Janet gave a snort of laughter, "He wishes, but it's nothing like that," she informed them, "the fetus shows at least two month's growth, and it definitely wasn't there when I gave Sam her physical last week."

"Oh thank god," said Jack.

"Now you _know_ you have a disturbing job when you can say that."

"Yes, but more importantly, what are we going to do?"

"Welll..." Janet grimaced. The boys never liked this decision.

TBC

AN: the updates may be coming a little quickly, but I don't like to post things until I have them all done, or else the seperate chapters would be a LONG time coming and poeple would loose interest.

This being siad the sequel may be a LONG time coming...


	4. Conspiracy?

SG-1 had been in isolation for three days now. The medical staff had made some progress as to what was wrong with them, but nothing hinting at a cure. Meanwhile they just had to deal with the side effects. Which weren't that horrible really, just strange. O'Neill suddenly had an intelligence rivaling Carter's, Teal'c was now telepathic, and Jonas, to put it blankly, had super strength. Sam was getting the worst of things, she didn't handle pregnancy too well.

"People keep trying to give me advice," she complained during dinner on the third day, "and I can't take any of it, I just keep getting - _bigger_ - every day. I mean, look at this," she waved a hand at her bulging belly, "I didn't look like this five days ago!"

"At least you're sleeping," grumbled Jack through his fork.

"You're grumbling!" shot Jonas, "you keep the rest of us awake! Isn't that right, Teal'c? Teal'c!" The Jaffa was staring fixedly at Sam's stomach.

"It is sentient." he replied.

"Eh?"

"Major Carter's child," he explained, "it is aware of its existence, and grows rapidly because it wishes to leave her." The atmosphere in the room was suddenly dead still.

"Aw, make the lady feel nice, would ya'?"

"No," whispered Sam, placing a hand on her stomach, "no, I think he may be right." There was a pause.

"Well," breathed Jonas, "considering things we've seen, no offense, it's not entirely surprising."

"Do you thik we should do anything?" asked O'Neill.

"Probably not."

"Yeah," sighed Sam, turning back to her food. Jack decided it was time to lighten the conversation.

"Girl or boy?" he asked

"Boy."

"You going to name it?"

Sam was taken aback, "You know, I never really thought about that. I haven't really thought about anything! I've been so concerned about_ what's_ happening to us, I haven't had time to think about how or why. Am I going to be left raising some alien child? And if what Teal'c says is true and it - he - is sentient _now_, what are things going to be like once it's born?"

"Whoa, easy," said Jack, putting an arm around his friend's shoulder, "I never meant it to go that far. We're probably going to have to go with Jonas' approach and see how things play out. You never know. Plus, you're not alone in this, 'kay? We're always here for ya'."

Sam smiled, "Yeah, thanks. I shouldn't have freaked out like that. But still..."

"No buts. Look, why don't you go get some rest."

Sam laughed in spite of herself, "Now who's the baby here?" she got up and cleared her dishes, "I got some work to do anyway." Colonel O'Neill watched Sam leave then turned back to the others. As he did so his eyes began to change, mist, then cloud over so the iris and whites were now obscured by green. Jack then leaned over so the camera behind him and Sam in the corner could not hear.

"Our brother grows quickly," he told Jonas and Teal'c, whose eyes had changed in a similar manner, "we should leave here soon."

"Is it not unwise to travel with someone in her condition?" asked Jonas, glaring at Jack through pools of red.

"It is a risk I believe we must take, sister," said Teal'c, dark and midnight blue, "also the humans are wiser than they were before. They are close to devising a counter to our advance."

"Could we not sabotage?" Whatever was in Jack shook its head.

"It's too easy to get caught. Then they would know something is amiss."

"Tonight, then?"

"Tomorrow. Less running. Once Orith is born, there will be nothing they can do."

* * *

AN: sorry for the short chapter, but if you want dramatic effect, this is the best place to leave off.

Hey, I just figured out how to use the section breaks.


	5. Kidnap

7:30 am

Colonel O'Neill woke early to find Major Carter already up and about, or at least as about as you could get in quarantine.

"Shouldn't you be resting?" he asked.

"Not like I'm going on a mission any time soon. Or leaving this room for that matter."

"Still..."

"Still nothing, Colonel," Sam snapped, "I'm grown up and can look after myself, so stop _fussing_." Well, her attidude seems to have changed quite quickly.

"I shudder to think what you will be like when actually pregnant."

1:15 pm - BRIEFING

"The good news is we found it's a virus, and it's stopped its advance," Dr. Fraiser informed them via the intercom, "but we still don't know quite what it's done to you, and we can't take risks by letting you out of isolation."

"So in other words it's been four days and you have _nothing_?" groaned Jack.

"Well...yeah," Janet told them. "Look, we've had some strange cases over the years, but this tops the list. It's like the virus knows what we're doing and dies every time we try and run a test. Those sarcophagi are also resisting every scan we can throw at them, and I don't think destroying them will do any good."

"Anything else?" asked General Hammond, also present.

"No, that's al for now. I'm going to need SG-1 in for testing at 16:00." As they switched off the intercom, Hammond turned to the doctor.

"You're not telling them everything, are you." It was a statement, not a question.

"Nope," Janet sighed, " we're actually quite close to finding a cure, but I don't think they can be trusted."

"Well why not?"

"Footage from the security cameras show some strange behavior in the three men," she explained, "Teal'c hasn't been going into kel'nor'eem at all, Jonas was testing the strength of the doors yesterday, and one of them is always seen hanging around Major Carter as if guarding her. They've also been seen whispering among themselves on several occasions. I don't want to raise suspicions by moving Sam in case things get ugly, because frankly, sir, with these new abilities those three could be really dangerous," Janet sighed, "I think it's best to feign ignorance and hope they just play along."

"And Major Carter?" Hammond queried.

"Hopefully this is safer for her."

Sitting around the table, Teal'c opened his eyes and spoke to the other two.

"It was as we suspected," he reported. "they know something is amiss. Yet they are willing to help this Major Carter, which also means our brother. Perhaps we should not remove her from this place."

"No," spat Jack, "the plan stays as is. The human race has grown, but they will still try and use Orith in their petty battle against the Goa'uld."

"Agreed," said Jonas.

1:30 am

Late that night Jack stood above Samantha's sleeping form.

"Horeb," he whispered to Teal'c, "you take the woman. Make sure she stays asleep. Ba'ril will protect from the front, myself from the back. Do not waste time." Teal'c/Horeb scooped the sleeping Major up in his arms. Jonas/Ba'ril walked to the front of the room, and, with a nod from Jack, wrenched the heavy steel door from its hinges. The airmen on the other side barely had time to react before they were both knocked unconscious. The three fugitives made it quietly down the corridor and into the elevator before the alarms began going off.

"Damned cameras," muttered Ba'ril. She halted the elevator on level eighteen, forcing the doors open and taking out the two guards. The three of them then stole down the corridor in search of one the several escape hatches leading to the surface.

"Here," Jack told them, "stop." He fiddled with the hatch card lock for all of five seconds before turning to Ba'ril. She pulled the slot off the wall and the hatch hissed open.

"Halt!" the command came from the end of the hall. The three men turned to face a squad of airmen with rifles all pointed in their direction. Jack's eyes flicked between the two groups, and then he slowly moved to the front of his own.

"Run," he whispered to Ba'ril as he passed. She nodded in understanding, and as Jack reached the head of the group she stepped backwards into Horeb, pushing them through the hatch and slamming the door behind them. A volley of shots was let loose by the airmen. Jack grunted and sunk to the floor with a tranquilizer embedded in his shoulder.

Inside the hatch the two remaining fugitives looked grimly up at eighteen floors of ladder.

"Give her to me," muttered Ba'ril, taking Sam from Horeb. They began to climb, the Major curled in Ba'ril's arms as she slowly but steadily worked up towards the surface. As they neared level one Horeb spoke.

"They are waiting for us," he informed his sister, "they beleive they have a fool proof plan in ambushing us at the surface."

"Wrong," grunted Ba'ril, her foot meeting with the hatch leading out to the corridor on level one.

Up on the surface several airmen waited, poised around the cylindrical concrete exit, ready to fire at whatever came out of that hatch.

They waited.

And waited.

Muffled shots could be heard coming from the main base entrance, not too far away. Soon after a voice cracked over the open radio.

"This is Lieutenant Farling, main entrance," it reported, gasping, "they've escaped."

* * *

AN: You may have noticed that chapter one was labeled with the origional name of this story; _True Gods_. That has now been corrected. Thanks! 


	6. On the Run

Sam awoke to the jostling and vibrating of a moving vehicle.

"What the hell?" she muttered, sitting up. She was curled on the back bench of an unfamiliar military issue van, entangled in a sloppily placed seat belt and what appeared to be seven months worth of mysterious alien child. Trying to wake up her cramped body Sam stretched her legs, only to run into the other occupant of the bench. At first she thought it was a stranger, but as the blurriness in her waking eyes cleared, Sam realized the figure was Jonas.

Whoa.

What the hell had happened to the guy? He'd never been _red_ before. Streaks of bright cherry ran through Jonas' hair, down onto the scalp and spread out onto his face, highlighting the cheekbones and neck, then continuing down under his collar. Sam could just see the end of one stripe peeking out from Jonas' sleeve, invading the hand supporting his chin like scales. To add to the creepiness, the man's eyes had turned the same vivid colour, and they now turned to stare at her coldly.

No. She'd made a mistake. This wasn't Jonas.

"She's awake," it said. The driver didn't respond, but Major Carter sure had something to say.

"Who the hell are you," she asked boldly, "and what do you want with me?"

"Should we tell her?" asked Jonas, turning to the front.

"I do not see any reason not to," replied the driver, who was now identified as Teal'c. Jonas sighed and turned his sights out the window to the mountain range whirring by.

"My name is Ba'ril," he said, "my companion is Horeb, and the captured one is Tannik. Our brother growing inside you is Orith. He was lucky enough to have at least part of his corporeal form left after all these years. We are of the race you know as the Ancients."

_Ancients?_

"Bu.." mumbled Sam, "but you're supposed to be the good guys. You build technology that kills Goulds and-" Ba'ril snorted in laughter.

"On the majority, yes. But you know the Goa'uld. Where do you think they _stole _their titles as gods?" Sam frowned.

"So you posed as gods too?"

"No woman, we_ are_ the gods!" Ba'ril hissed, "The True Gods. And we have come to take back what is rightfully ours!"

Ooh, this didn't sound good.

"So," said Sam, turning to look out the window. Seeing only cliffs she asked, "Where are we headed?"

"To the City of Angels," replied Horeb, "where the temple of our sister Illyria is located."

"We're going to Los Angeles? How could there be one of you in Los Angeles?"

"Major Carter, it is actually quite strange that you found us on another planet, when we were buried here on Earth."

"Buried here on Earth?" Sam frowned, "are there...more of you?"

Ba'ril's expression did not change as she replied, "Thousands."

Lying in the infirmary Jack O'Neill opened his eyes, then snapped them shut almost immediately. Headache, headache, headache...

"Oowww..."

"Oh good, you're awake," said Dr. Fraiser matter of factly, "how are you feeling?"

"Oowww..."

"Everything's working, that's good to hear," Janet marked something on her clipboard.

"What the hell happened?" Jack moaned, "Did I get a snake in my head, 'cause that's sure what it felt like."

"If you mean you had no control over your body, then that would be a fair assessment," replied the doctor, "but it wasn't a Goa'uld. Whatever was inside you was mostly energy and whatever the virus had mutated."

"My team?" asked Jack. Janet shook her head.

"The other two escaped, and they took Major Carter as a hostage. We're trying to track them now, but it's proving difficult. If you tell us anything, about their motives perhaps, it would be a great help." Jack almost shook his head, but something happened at the mention of motives. Several pictures flashed through Jack's mind, an underground temple, a woman, a beautiful woman, power, explosions, her cry, a cry of rage, a hole, a hole in the Earth... and suddenly he knew.

"They're going to bring her back," he mumbled, "they're going to bring her back!"

"Bring who back who?" asked Dr. Fraiser, "Colonel O'Neill ho-"

"Los Angeles!" he shouted, jumping off the bed, "and I'm coming with you!"

"Colonel O'Neill!" snapped Janet, "you will sit down this instant! You just woke up, there is no way I'm letting you on a mission!"

"Look Doc," said the Colonel, "that thing's outta' me, I'm fine. If the other two fulfill their mission, all hell will break loose. And if they've started before we get there, I'm the only one who knows how to stop it. Plus..." at this moment Jack faltered, and looked down, a worried look crossing his face.

"What is it?" asked Janet, her tone softened. Jack looked back up at her.

"If it works it'll kill Sam."


	7. Birth

Their van jolted along the narrow backroads of the Rockie Mountains. The trio had been driving all morning, and as Sam surmised, all night too. As they neared a small town, Ba'ril turned to the Major sitting stiffly on the bench beside her.

"Are you hungry, Samantha?" she asked, "It has been a long while since you had any nourishment." They hadn't stopped for breakfast.

"Sure," replied Sam. _I am rather hungry, and if we stop, it may give me a chance to escape._

"Do not even consider it," said Horeb aloud, just like the other three times she'd thought about how to get out of here.

_Why do I even bother...

* * *

_

The three of them marched in at about one one o'clock, which on a Sunday afternoon means I'm the only one in the old diner. It was an odd trio, the larger of the two men was constantly fidgety, and neither ate a thing. The pregnant blonde munching on her sandwich looked pointedly unhappy, but not a thing was said by the other two, and only a sympathetic, "Bad car ride, dearie?" was given by Maria, the elderly waitress. Maybe I'm just one of those people, but something was definitely wrong here. When the woman quietly excused herself to the washroom, I waited a minute before following. One of the men rose slightly, as if to stop me, but was halted by his companion.

She was standing at the sink, looking at a haggard refection in the mirror.

"Hi," I said. The woman jumped.

"Oh my god, I didn't hear you come in." I shrugged.

"Ninja training." She frowned. "It's a joke," I assured her, "Guess they don't make maternity uniforms," I said, nodding at her military outfit, rolled up at the sleeves.

"Oh, no," she replied softly. The woman looked nervous, so I cut right to the chase.

"Look, you all right?" I asked, "'Cause you look like your on the run or something. And those men are so... odd, so quiet." The woman looked slightly shocked for a moment, then came to a quick decsion.

"No," she replied hastily, "I'm fine. We're just in a big rush to get to L.A."

"Then why don't you take the main highway?" I inquired, "I can't see anyone in a rush passing through here."

"Yeah," she replied, placing a hand on the door, "look, a friend might come by looking for us. Tell him where we've gone, okay?" I nodded and the woman pushed open the door. The tall black man she'd come in with was standing right outside, glowering at us.

"Come," he said flatly. I looked straight at the man, meeting his eyes. _Show him you're not afraid_, I thought. Hm, this man had really strange eyes, all dark blue. They gave me this feeling, this lightness. They told me to forget. Forget what? Forget ... forgetting ... okay...

An hour later several military officers came into the diner and asked about three missing persons; two men, one woman. Both the old waitress and the teenage customer reported never having seen them.

* * *

Two days on the road. Carter had always hated car trips. Hot, sick, and cramped was always how they made her feel. On the evening of the second day, the van passed a sign announcing they'd reached the outskirts of Los Angeles, and Sam gave into her frustration.

"Can we please stop?" she almost whined. "I'm tired and cramped, and there's no way I can spend another night in the car."

"Be patient, we have almost arrived and cannot stop at the moment." Ba'ril told her.

Sam began to protest, but a sudden wave of pain hit her and rolled through her abdomen.

"Oh no, we're stopping," she grunted.

"Why?"

"'Cause there's no way I'm giving birth in the car."

Horeb just sped up.

Later on the van pulled up in front of an old building in downtown Los Angeles. By now Sam's contractions were quite frequent, and the Ancients had trouble getting her out of the car. The Major herself was only vaguely aware of what was going on. She'd heard birth was hard, but not like this. This was like the energy was being drawn out of her, had no regard for what she was going through. Whatever was draining her only wanted to live. It cared for nothing else.

The Ancients laid Sam in the middle of the unused lobby, as Ba'ril began summoning her strength for the rite. The Major was sweating profusely and whimpering quietly every now and then. Why didn't they help her? Didn't they care? Wasn't someone else going to come?

_Hurry up Jack..._

Horeb heard her call out and smirked.

"He's not coming to help you," he said, "the demon inside that man would kill him rather then set him free."

"Right'o!" said a familiar voice from the door. Speak of the devil.

_Jack.._.

"Hey!" the Colonel grinned cockily, "I've come to help you people with your little destruction ... ritual ... thing." Horeb frowned.

"I believe you have taken on the persona of O'Neill a little to well, Tannik."

_Oh no, oh god no..._

"We do, however, require your assistance. Did you bring the materials needed?" Jack O'Neill snorted.

"As if."

_Yes..._

Jack raised the rifle in his hand and fired quick shots into the Ancients. Horeb fell on two, but Ba'ril's strength held her out for almost five. He was about to radio in the rest of the troops when Major Carter let out a sharp cry. The weapon clattered to the ground as Colonel O'Neill ran over to Sam.

"Carter," he said softly, "You gonna' be all right?" She shook her head weakly. Jack slid his hand over to Sam's belly then drew it away hastily.

"Holy shit! Wha-" Light was beginning to gather above Major Carter, growing, pulsing. Every time it grew larger, Sam sobbed and grew weaker. Then she let out a final cry and whatever it was grew brighter than ever. A wave of power burst from the light, and Jack was thrown across the polished stone floor of the lobby, trying to shield his eyes. When he looked back the light had gone. Standing there, with his back to the Colonel, was a young man. He was naked, skinny, and pale, with a shock of yellow hair. Running over his body were the same lines that were now fading from Jonas and Teal'c, except they were in a vivid blue.

The boy held up his hands, inspecting his newfound body. He hadn't seen O'Neill yet. Jack took that instant to grab his weapon from the ground beside him and fire at the boy. With lightning speed the reborn Ancient whipped around and threw a barrier at the bullets, slowing them enough to step out of harm's way. He then turned on Jack, lunging and grabbing the man around the throat and hefting him into the air. Just as Colonel ONeill thought he was going to have the life choked out of him, a hoarse voice spoke from the center of the room.

"Please don't hurt him," croaked Major Carter. The rage fled as the boy turned to face the dying woman. What he was now thinking was hard to tell. It seemed he had a choice; kill the Colonel in revenge or go to Sam. Finally he dropped Jack and walked purposefully to the center of the room.

Kneeling down beside the Major he whispered softly, "Thank you for carrying me and not bearing hatred against my kind."

Jack looked on in disbelief. What was he talking about? Well, he supposed Sam was his mother to an extent. Hell, he even looked like her. How could a mother bear hatred against her son, even if he was an ancient, evil force? Still...

The man leaned down and placed a soft kiss on Sam's forehead. Soft, white light flowed across the point of conyact, and her breathing becoming even and steady once again. Then he waved a hand through the air, a shimmering portal opening before him.

"My sister's not here anyway," he muttered before stepping through.


	8. A Short Epilogue

Samantha Carter opened her heavy eyes to the SGC infirmary. The lights were low, and the traditional monitors beeped softly beside the bed.

"Orith?" she asked nothing in particular.

"What?" a sleepy gray head lifted itself from the bed beside her.

"My son."

"You mean the little blue guy who tried to choke the life outta me?" Jack rubbed his eyes and straightened himself in his chair, " He escaped trough some portal or something. We couldn't track him."

"Oh," she seemed disappointed.

"Look," sighed Jack, "it's probably best to forget about it, okay? If we ever do see the guy again, he's most likely to try and kill us."

"Yeah," whispered Sam turning away, "I'm going to sleep now," she muttered lamely.

Jack got up and left her bedside. He could tell Carter was hurt, but he believed what he said was true. Even if Orith had saved her life, with beings like him it was usually a one-timer.

Even if Sam truly believed he was her son.

Jack sulked his way down to Jonas' office, where the young man was bent over some translations. He looked up as Jack walked in.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," replied Jack, "Whatcha doin'?"

"Trying to find out who those aliens were, and what they were trying to do."

"They said they were Ancients. Isn't that enough?"

"Well, I'm curious, but reasearching has only made it worse. Usually when we come across aliens who pose as gods, you can find anything and everything about them from the myths lying around. But for those four there's..."

"Nothing?"

"Exactly. The only thing I can find is on the one we never saw called Illyria, and that's some brief mention in a book that look's like Dr. Jackson wrote it himself, talking about demons and vampires and the like. Here," Jonas held out a leather bound volume to Colonel O'Neill.

"_Rhineheart's Compendium_," Jack shook his head and handed the book back, "Danny would have mentioned if he wrote it. What about other things, like the temple? Or that hole I talked about, the Deep Well or something like that?" Jonas shook his head.

"Nope."

"The _building _then?"

"Old law firm headquarters. Wolfram and Hart. Don't see how that's relevant, though."

"Lawyers _are _evil," pointed out Jack. Jonas laughed.

"Yeah. Hey, you think we'll ever see him again?"

"That Orith dude? I hope not."

Heaven help them if they ever did.

Fin.

* * *

AN: The ancients here are supposed to be the same as the demon Ancients (i.e. Illyria) mentioned in season five of Angel. _Rhineheart's Compendium_ is a book often referenced by a character in the same show. Sequel is planned, but coming slowly.

Thanks for reading!


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